Dept. Of Education: Schools May Lose Funding for Ignoring Bullying of LGBT Students

Encouraging news from the US Department Of Education in response to the national outrage around anti-LGBT bullying. Another stark reminder of how important it is to VOTE on Tuesday. The difference between administrations who support LGBT people and those who don't couldn't be more important.

From Bloomberg News:

"Schools that fail to address the bullying of gay students may lose U.S. funds for not enforcing gender-discrimination laws, the federal Department of Education said.

Federal officials for the first time encouraged schools to address such behavior as harassment using civil-rights statutes enacted from 1964 to 1990 that protect students from discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, disability or gender, the department said today.

The announcement clarifies that protections extend to gay, lesbian, and transgender students who are harassed for “failing to conform to sex stereotypes,” Russlynn Ali, the assistant education secretary for civil rights, said during a conference call yesterday. “We are not creating new policy,” she said.

Courts have held that gender stereotyping of gay people may be a violation of civil-rights law, Ali said.

“We must get directly involved when bullying crosses a line and becomes discriminatory harassment,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters on a conference call today."